Colin Rea and four relievers combined on a five-hitter and Owen Miller hit a two-run homer to pace the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-0 victory over visiting Houston on Tuesday, snapping the Astros’ eight-game winning streak.
Rea (1-3) was sent down on May 15 but recalled five days later to bolster a rotation with three starters on the injured list. The right-hander allowed four hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking two for his first major league win since August 2020 when he was with the Chicago Cubs.
The Brewers’ bullpen allowed just one hit the rest of the way. Joel Payamps got the final two outs of the sixth, Elvis Peguero tossed a perfect seventh on 10 pitches, and Peter Strzelecki handled the eighth. Bryse Wilson allowed a double in the ninth.
Milwaukee pulled away with four runs in the eighth off Rafael Montero. Jesse Winker and Rowdy Tellez singled, and Brian Anderson doubled home both runners with two outs to make it 4-0. Miller followed with his third homer of the season.
Astros starter J.P. France (1-1) allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He stuck out eight and walked one. Houston had won 11 of its previous 12 games.
Rookie Joey Wiemer staked the Brewers to a 1-0 lead in the third inning with his fifth homer, a 430-foot leadoff drive to left-center.
Miller manufactured a run in the fourth to make it 2-0. Miller singled with one out and stole second. With two outs, catcher Yainer Diaz’s attempted pickoff throw to second sailed into center, allowing Miller to come all the way around.
The Astros threatened in the sixth when Yordan Alvarez drew a one-out walk and Kyle Tucker blooped a single into shallow center, chasing Rea. Payamps entered and struck out Jose Abreu. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, but Payamps fanned Jeremy Pena to end the inning.
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, playing in his fourth game since coming off the IL, left in the sixth inning with an illness.
“He was feeling sick,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “So, that’s why he called us out there. We just took him out because we thought it was the best thing to do for precautionary reasons. Like I said, he was feeling sick and you could sort of see it. He’s being evaluated by doctors and we’ll let you know tomorrow.”
Altuve was 1-for-3 with a single before coming out of game.
–Field Level Media
